These late release PS
One games are tough to review. They really are beginning to stand on their own, almost
like a new genre of games. At $10 a pop, you certainly can't go wrong, but should the
price of a game really determine it's review score? Miracle Space Race is by no
means a game that will re-invent the console, genre, or games to come, but it's an
enjoyable, quick two hour ride that's worth the price of admission. Yes, it's a generic kart racer. Oh, wait... it's not. It's a "futuristic rocket propelled space kart" racer. Originality at it's best here from the marketing department. Anyway, you'rer going to select from generic cartoon styled critters and plop them into a RPSK... then race 'em. Fantastic.
There's also weapons strewn throughout the track, six in total. It's the usual round of projectiles: Homing missile, lightning strike, triple laser shot, mines, shield, and speed boost. Again, what you would expect? Controlling these RPSK is quite the chore until you get the hang of things, usually after two or three races. You'll challenge three different levels of difficulty, unlocking two characters along the way.
Every track looks
nearly exactly like the last one. The same textures are strewn about, but keeping a steady
frame-rate is no problem. There's some nice faux lighting effects too, but they don't
affect your racer in any way. The characters and their RPSK are composed of very few
polygons, but look good enough and fit within the games limitations. A few of the music
tracks are also catchy, fitting in with the whole "space" thing.
If anything will keep people away from this one, it's the lack of a multi-player mode. Nope, not even two-players. It's near impossible to comprehend the logic of excluding a mandatory feature like this, but hence, this is what he have here. It's not that the graphics are earth-shattering enough to prevent a split screen mode from being done, as the PS One could handle it. Instead, you'll be forced to put up with the now standard "catch up" AI that plagues so many games in this genre.
If you have a kid brother who's under 10, this would be a great gift. He'll be sure to find some enjoyment in this one, most likely where you won't. Parents will be happy with this one too, no violence (well, you do shoot missiles into another characters RPSK...). Anyone with a decent amount of experience will plow through this one in a matter of hours and never look back. Still, it's not a bad game if you're simply looking to kill some time.
